Iron Man 3 Scores $68.3 Million Opening Day

After making an estimated $15.6 million in Thursday previews and midnights, Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 brought in an estimated $68.5 million its opening Friday.

That’s a strong opening day, definitely in the Top 10 but below last year’s Marvel’s The Avengers ($80.8 million), The Dark Knight Rises ($75.7 million), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($91 million) and three of “The Twilight Saga” movies – it’s tied with “Eclipse.”

Right now it’s on its way to anywhere from $165 million and up depending on how well it holds business on Saturday, but its A CinemaScore is a good sign of positive word-of-mouth to carry it through the weekend.

Essentially it could take second place behind the opening of last year’s Marvel’s The Avengers which holds the record with $207.4 million but more likely it will take third place behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which held the opening record for ten months with $169.2 million.

Check back tomorrow for our full box office report on Iron Man 3. Apparently there are other movies in theaters as well.